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The first edition of this book was lavishly praised by many authorities as the most formidable demonstration of an unpopular truth: males rule in all societies known to history or anthropology, for reasons arising from innate physiology, a brute fact that can never be conjured away by tinkering with social institutions. This new edition has been completely rewritten in the light of two decades of scholarship and debate, taking account of all published criticisms of earlier editions.

"Warlight" by Michael Ondaatje
A dramatic coming-of-age story set in the decade after World War II, "Warlight" is the mesmerizing new novel from the best-selling author of "The English Patient." Learn more

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It appears that most reviews are based on pre-existing political preferences rather than the book itself. I was impressed with the author's courage in publishing such a controversial theory, although perhaps 'intellectual orneriness' is more apropos than 'courage'. In any event, the author presents a solid case for his theory. Very briefly, he rejects that notion that patriarchy -- and indeed, male dominance in almost every area of high achievement -- is due to oppression of women. He proposes an alternative explanation, in which sexual selection forces men to take insane risks and work killing hours to attain the level of excellence or dominance required to win the sexual favors of women.A subject this large cannot be adequately covered in a book this short. But, within the constraints of space of a single book, I think that the author makes a reasonable case. There is definitely some truth in this book.Sadly, many people reject the thesis because it appears to conflict with desirable social goals. I fully endorse the fundamental goal of absolute equality for women in EVERY corner of our society. I am deeply disturbed by the misogyny appearing here and elsewhere on the Internet. The ghastly and disgusting campaigns waged by misogynists against such figures as Kathy Sierra (see http://www.wired.com/2014/10/trolls-will-always-win/) leave me shaking with anger. But the evils committed by misogynists do not justify a denial of truth in any form; Mr. Goldberg's book must be evaluated on its own merits or failings, not because of its political implications. Indeed, if his thesis be correct, I think that our society would be advanced by bringing our attitudes into conformance with the thesis. This does not mean that we should condone one iota of gender bias, one brusque dismissal of a woman's ideas, or one sexist slur. The world is a complicated place, and we do not achieve social justice by denying truth.

The negative reviews I have seen here leave me wondering if those writing them actually read the book, or just cherry picked words as they moved across the pages so they could say they read the book. Goldberg states clearly that there will be individual women who are better than the average man at male associated tasks, and the reverse is also inferred. However, he also argues that the most effeminate male will not be more effeminate than the most effeminate female - and the reverse is also true. When it comes to boxing for instance, he indicates that men, which pounding on each other for hundreds of thousands of years over territory, women, and status - are at this point more evolved for surviving those beatings with slightly less damage. While we belong to the same species and have more in common than we are different - he states clearly that those differences do exist and should be considered rationally. He doesn't state women should not do what they can do, but more like the idea that a firefighter should be able to carry a 300 pound victim from the 27th floor of a burning building no matter what their gender. He also proposes that men get the higher paying positions because they must in order to be of value to a mate - if this were not the case then 80% of the women surveyed by the NY Times back when I was in school would not have said their first consideration before dating a man is his level of income.

A very important and thought provoking book,Steven Goldberg's'Why Men Rule'does not lend itself to a comfortable/lazy reading-those who read this book in this way are bound to be upset.There are different levels of argumentation in his narrative;the simplistic 'men vs. women' is probably the most superficial layer,one is even justified to use the word'pretext'-what is really happening here is the examination of a number of very emotionally charged assumptions of our contemporary North American culture that,as Golberg brilliantly demonstrates,do not stand up to a closer scrutiny.Whithout claiming that he is always right(he never does that either!-remember,this is a theory,a proposal ) Goldberg presents in this work a formidable challenge to those(whether men or women)inclined toward the identification of ideological thinking with reality.Obviously,'reality'and 'ideology'are complex words demanding further clarification outside the scope of this review,still the author challenges us all to take another look at ourselves and our thinking.An essential book for those who are willing to take the risk of investigation!